Monday, November 20, 2006

Moderns, mystery, and meditation

One of the myriad afflictions of coming from a modern--or postmodern for that matter--society is that we too often don't know how to simply contemplate something we don't completely understand. We might try and put things into a ten (or 12) step "how to" program, or we might give up altogether, but we seem to have lost the ability to simply meditate on these things.

Some examples? You betcha. What about the mystery of a wife--or husband, whichever is appropriate? Solomon notes it as a mystery in Proverbs, but we're happy to distill it down into a Myers-Briggs test, couch time, and a weekly date away from the kids. Postmoderns might add a little dose of changing the ground rules that Scriptures sets up for wedlock, I'd guess. In either case, we simply don't spend the time meditating that our forefathers used to.

Others? Well, what about the mystery of why Cain's offering wasn't accepted, or how it is that God so loved us that He gave His only Son for us?

I would submit that these things are not to be understood completely, but rather simply...appreciated.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can appreciate what you're saying. I do believe that meditating on mysteries is akin to worshipping God. I think and think about mysteries in my marriage, and only come out awed at God's plan and provision.
Good post.

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Anonymous said...

I remember a few years back when I loved to go the lake after everyone else went to bed. Sitting on the dock and taking in the enormity of sky felt like the right thing to do as I pondered my future. Now I know why, I was letting my mind contemplate the mystery.

Anonymous said...

Amen to that. We ought to allow God to be (as He is) wiser than man and stop trying trying to decompose (and fully understand) or explain away matters that are simply too great for our finite minds. Take God's sovereignty and man's responsibity, for example; let's lose the arminian mindset and take God at his Word, despite the paradox.